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Des Moines duo hopes to score big advertising bucks in one place you almost have to look

Jeff Lamb and business partner Aaron Steen have started Midwest Truck Advertising, which is hoping to capitalize on all that empty space along the sides of semi-trailers and transit buses in Des Moines and beyond.

Des Moines duo hopes to score big advertising bucks in one place you almost have to look

Timothy Schutte, of Exit Realty Capital City, with his advertisement on the side of a 28-foot semi-trailer, through an agreement negotiated by Midwest Truck Advertising.(Photo: Jeff Lamb/Special to the Register)

He's hoping that enough folks keep their eyes on the road to turn that concept into big business.

Lamb and business partner Aaron Steen have started Midwest Truck Advertising, which is hoping to capitalize on all that empty space along the sides of semi-trailers and transit buses in Des Moines and beyond.

"I realized there are thousands of blank spaces roaming the streets," said Lamb, the company's president, who works alongside co-founder Steen and marketing consultant Cliff Falls. "These are spaces where companies can get recognized. ... It's mass guerrilla marketing. We can take companies and put them in the public eye."

Jeff Lamb, president of Midwest Truck Advertising.(Photo: Jeff Lamb/Special to the Register)

Lamb got the idea when seeing a fair number of trucks zipping by on the highway in a short period of time. He told Steen, who sat and noticed more than two dozen in the span of a couple hours the next time he was on the road.

"In a bigger city like Chicago, you see that type of advertising everywhere," Steen said. "You're even seeing individual people getting paid to advertise on their own vehicles."

But the market is considerably more open in central Iowa, the pair concluded. They've gotten on board with the Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency, which operates in Boone, Dallas, Jasper, Madison, Marion, Story and Warren counties. Steen said they control a couple dozen advertisements on the company's 60 buses — back panels, side panels and some interiors — and have the chance to fill those few dozen more.

Steen and Lamb work with Laser Resources, Inc., out of Grimes to create and print designs, for which clients pay installation fees and then monthly rates for the spots on the vehicles.

An example of an advertisement on the back of a bus owned by the Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency. The advertisement rights and negotiations are controlled by Midwest Truck Advertising, operated by Jeff Lamb and Aaron Steen.(Photo: Jeff Lamb/Special to the Register)

Most monthly costs fall in the range of several hundred dollars, Steen said. Lamb added that the cost is comparable to taking out a quarter-page ad in a regularly published magazine.

For now, their primary example of a large-scale ad venture is on the side of 28-foot semi-trailer showcasing Timothy Schutte, the owner of Exit Realty Capital City. Schutte was Lamb's first customer.

Agreements are in the works with a couple other bus companies, the duo said, and they are closing in on an agreement with a Des Moines paratransit company.

The extreme end of longterm hopes involves finding inroads with all Des Moines mass transit. For example, the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority has around 150 buses in its fleet, according to marketing manager Erin Hockman. One hundred twelve of the buses have spots for five exterior ads, and each bus can hold up to 26 interior ads, she said.

More than half of all exterior ad opportunities are available for the DART full-size vehicles, Hockman said. DART currently holds its visual advertisement agreements with Adsposure.

Lamb said Midwest Truck Advertising has a standing agreement with 40 semis in the Chicago area that can be wrapped if business gets off the ground.

"It has a chance to really take off," Steen said. "Once we can get the word out, it's basically an affordable, mobile billboard that's three-sided. And it's seen by different people, every day, all over the place."